Shades of Grey
by Dream of a Dream
Summary: As a non-bender, Yuke is the perfect candidate for infiltrating the equalists; but when emotions and beliefs start to interfere with her mission, she finds that the line between right and wrong may not be as clear as she once thought.
1. Noodles and FistFights

**My first fanfiction (don't kill me)! I don't own anything. **

* * *

Yuke glanced at the clock hanging on the back wall just above the doorway leading into the kitchen and let out an annoyed sigh. It was only 3:30, which meant she still had another hour of work before her shift ended. _Hurry up clock I'm dying here. Please make time go faster just this once!_ She begged the clock in her mind.

Brushing some of light brown bangs out of her eyes, she glanced around the small restaurant, taking in its few afternoon customers and the plain yet homey décor she had grown accustomed to looking at: white-washed walls, green booths and wooden tables and chairs, a small painting hung every few feet along the walls – nothing one wouldn't find at restaurants elsewhere.

Yuke had been working at the restaurant for a little more than half a year now, and while the pay wasn't spectacular, she found her boss and fellow co-workers to be quite friendly if not somewhat obnoxious. Fortunately for her, the job of a server and dishwasher wasn't terribly demanding, so she wasn't too concerned with coming to work six days out of the week.

Although sometimes there would be days like this towards the end of the week where business would be incredibly slow and Yuke would find herself half-asleep while serving customers. This was another one of those days, Yuke thought to herself as she went to retrieve the empty food dishes of a couple sitting in a nearby booth.

With a polite smile and a "thank you" in response, Yuke cleared off the couple's table and moved to the kitchen in the back of the restaurant with the dirty dishes, setting them on a counter next to a girl wearing gloves and an apron, her arms shoved almost to her elbows in a large sink of soapy water. The girl turned to glance at Yuke and the small pile of dishes she had placed on the counter, giving a small groan before rolling her eyes, her long black hair tied up in a ponytail swinging back and forth ever so gently as she shook her head.

"Honestly, Yuke? Can't you ever give me a break?" the girl asked mockingly as she finished cleaning a plate and reached for the first dish in the new stack.

"I will once people stop coming in to eat, Toshi. Then neither of us will have to clean dishes anymore because neither of us will have a job," Yuke responded, a smile working its way onto her face.

Toshi sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just that I feel like every time I'm almost done cleaning you come back in with another pile of dishes for me to wash – it's like a non-stop cycle of washing. All I ask is for one day where we can just sit around and do nothing and still get paid for it. That'd be the best day of work ever."

"Yeah, like that would ever happen," Yuke replied and Toshi shot her a glare.

"I'm just saying!" Yuke tried not to laugh as her friend continued to glare at her.

"Dream killer," Toshi mumbled at her, and lifting one hand from the sink, flicked some droplets of water at her face, making Yuke lift her hands in defense and jump back.

"Hey, cut it out! Or I'm gonna call Mr. Miho back here and have him earth bend you five inches shorter till you have to look up to talk to me."

"Yeah, like Mr. Miho would ever do that," Toshi scoffed. "Anyway, you and I both know he wouldn't harm a platypus bear even if it bit off his arm, much less a young girl for flicking some water in her friend's face. Besides, I thought you told me you know how to fight?"

"He wouldn't, but he could," Yuke offered in response and propped her chin in her hands, her elbows holding her head up on the cool white counter as she watched the girl clean.

They remained in that position for a couple minutes in silence, Toshi scrubbing dishes while Yuke half-heartedly watched until she decided to close her eyes.

"Hey now, watching someone clean the dishes isn't fun but don't go falling asleep on me. You've still got forty-five minutes before your shift ends and you can't spend the rest of that time just hanging around in here with me. What if some customers come in and there's no one to bring them their food or clean up their dishes?"

Yuke opened her eyes and groaned in protest. "Yeah, well, I'm not the only one working this shift. There are like, four other servers out there anyway, right? I'm sure one of them could bring back dirty dishes if they had to. If there are any new orders to take out, one of the chefs or waiters will call and let me know. Besides, I thought you didn't want to wash anymore dishes, dish girl?"

"I don't. It's just that I don't want to get in trouble for breaking on the job. I need all the money I can get you know."

Yuke frowned. "Toshi, you're nineteen and you live at home. I don't think you have to worry about finding your own place to live just yet."

"I know, I know. But haven't you ever thought about living out on your own? You know, somewhere far away, where you can be independent, lead a completely different life?"

"I have, but for the time being, I can't," Yuke replied at last as Toshi finished with the dishes, setting the last ones out to dry and pulling off her gloves. "My family needs me back home. With my father away most of the time and my mother spending most of her free time taking care of my brother, I need to help out around the house as much as I can."

"Yeah, I know," Toshi said quietly, before glancing at Yuke. "It's just… don't you ever want to leave? I mean, your family obviously can't keep you around forever. Sooner or later you're going to have to go out there and make a name for yourself in the world."

Yuke nodded. "I know – and someday I will. But until my brother is old enough and my family well enough to work without me, I can't go. Besides, I don't even know what I'm good at yet. I'm not a fire bender like my father or brother. I can't design and make clothes like my mother can. Right now I'm just…me," she sighed in frustration.

Toshi removed her apron and began rolling down her sleeves. "Yuke, you're only eighteen. Don't try to plan your life out before it's even started."

There was the light sound of a bell being rung suddenly and Yuke looked over her shoulder towards the kitchen area; it was time for work again.

"Yuke, we've got a large order for table eight!" A deep male voice came from the direction of the chef's area in the kitchen, confirming the need for her assistance.

With a roll of her eyes, Yuke stretched her arms out in front of her and stood up straight from her previously hunched position. "See you in a little bit, Toshi. I'll be sure to bring you some more dishes so you don't get bored," she said with a wave and headed back towards the chef's area.

When she was gone from the room Toshi finally shook her head and smiled. "Who knows Yuke, maybe you're just what the world needs?"

* * *

Yuke let out a sigh of relief as she stepped out of the small restaurant with Toshi and into the warm spring air. It was still early in the evening but already the streets were beginning to grow crowded with the city's inhabitants heading out for dinner or home from work.

"Maybe I should talk to Mr. Kyo about switching my work hours," Yuke thought out loud as she and Toshi made their way away from work and farther from the center of the city.

"What, and leave me all alone to work with the rest of those crazy people at that restaurant? I don't think so! How else would I be able to get through my shifts without my support team?" Toshi asked, slinging an arm tight around Yuke's neck and pulling her into something like a hug.

"Support team?" Yuke repeated, raising an eyebrow. "So I've been promoted from serving and cleaning to being you're fan base at work?"

"Exactly!" the dark-haired girl exclaimed. "You act as my moral support at work until I'm able to move out on my own. Then, I start some business, become rich and famous, and pull you off with me to travel all over the world and have adventures and such – after your family is able to get back on track in the work business of course," she added on after seeing the look on Yuke's face. "Come on, just think of it! It'll be like nothing we've ever dreamed of!"

"I don't know, Toshi. I can dream pretty big…" Yuke said, looking up at the tall buildings surrounding them in all directions.

"Oh, you're no fun," Toshi complained, shooing at her as if she were a bug. "Anyway, how about we go out together for dinner tonight? We're getting our pay checks next week so we could probably afford to go to some of the nicer places if we wanted."

"I don't know if I'm in the mood for something fancy," Yuke remarked, "but I'd be happy to go to dinner somewhere else with you."

Toshi's eyes lit up as soon as the words were out of her mouth. "You would? Oh Yuke you don't know how happy that makes me!" the girl cheered, her eyes alight with excitement. "You're always so busy and you never go out to eat with me. Now we can finally have a proper girl-to-girl talk about gossip and fashion and -," she stopped short at seeing the look Yuke was giving her. "Oh come on, you know it'll be fun. Besides, you could use some more girly stuff in your life – it'll broaden your knowledge and interests."

"But I thought I was girly enough already? And somehow I don't think that's the kind of knowledge I want to have in my mind," she mumbled in reply to her friend's joyous explanation.

Toshi and her were best friends after working together for half a year, but sometimes Yuke felt that the girl didn't know her at all. Yuke wasn't necessarily into gossip and boys and makeup like Toshi was; she was more of the tomboy – although she did enjoy some of the more feminine things in life, such as shopping. Yet the two of them still managed to get along fine despite their differences, now and then mocking one another for them.

For the next twenty minutes, the girls wandered around the large city, trying to decide on a place to eat before finally agreeing on a decently sized noodle shop tucked away between two larger high-class restaurants.

* * *

"And you're sure this place isn't too expensive?" Yuke asked as their meals were brought out to them in large bowls filled to the brim with noodles and other assortments of meat and vegetables.

"Yes, I'm positive. Don't worry, I've been here before. They have the best noodles for some of the lowest prices. Trust me, if it was too expensive I wouldn't have suggested it in the first place."

"If you say so," Yuke said, giving an overly dramatic sigh as both girls started on their meals.

By the time both girls had emptied their bowls, Yuke was regretting having ordered such a large meal; she would be lucky if she was hungry again in time for dinner tomorrow.

"Well I have to admit, Toshi, you were definitely right about the food being good. I can't remember a time when I've eaten so many noodles," she said, smiling. "Maybe we can make it a point to come here," she stopped suddenly when she noticed her friend's face turning a light shade of pink. Yuke frowned at her friend across the table. "Uh, Toshi? You alright there?"

Toshi quickly shifted her attention to Yuke, and when she spoke her voice was no louder than a whisper. "Oh my gosh, there's this totally hot guy sitting in a booth a couple tables back against the front windows. He has like, the most amazing hair and I swear he was just looking right at me!"

Yuke gave a sigh and rolled her eyes at her love-struck friend. "I swear Toshi, is there any guy in this city you don't think is cute or something? What are you going to do when some guy you like wants to marry you? Turn him down because of the hot guy sitting next to him?"

"That's not true!" Toshi exclaimed in a hushed voice, her face turning a brighter shade of pink. "I just have different tastes is all."

"And what would those tastes be then, hm?" Yuke teased.

"A lot better than yours seeing that you've never even had any!"

"I do so have taste!" Yuke whispered back, her face now turning a light shade of pink too.

"Oh no you don't!"

"Oh yes I do! It's just particular!"

"Yeah, particularly nothing!"

There was a loud 'bang,' and the two girls suddenly ceased their talk along with the rest of the noodle shop as three brutish men appeared in the doorway. The silence continued as the three men proceeded into the building, all eyes on them as they approached the head waiter who now seemed to be trying to make himself a part of the wall.

"They're part of the Triple Threat Triad," Yuke thought she heard someone whisper and watched as the biggest of the men, an earth bender by the looks of it, stepped forward to speak to the people in the shop.

"My good people, I assure you we don't mean to cause you any harm. We are simply looking for someone and are in need of your assistance for a brief moment. As I'm sure some – if not most – of you are well aware, the Avatar is said to be in Republic City." Yuke and Toshi glanced at one another in surprise, and from around the room there were brief whispers as the man continued to speak. "While some in the Triple Threat Triad claimed to have previously encountered the Avatar this morning, we are currently unaware of where she is. Therefore, if any of you know of her present whereabouts, if she is indeed here, I would advise you to inform us immediately, so as to cause as little trouble as possible… So then, does anyone have any information they wish to give us at this time?"

The noodle shop went silent, as no one uttered a word. The large man who had spoken stood there, unmoving, and for a moment Yuke wondered if he was going to accept that no one knew anything about the Avatar, as his face clearly showed his displeasure. She wouldn't put it past him though. The Triple Threat Triad was notorious for its violence and threats against anyone who displeased them, and they weren't a triad that anyone – benders and non-benders alike – didn't hold some degree of fear or resentment towards. Yet despite his looks, this man seemed surprisingly able to accept the fact that no one knew anything, his only response being the smug lift of his mouth and a brief reply of: "I see."

Turning back to his other men and the head waiter, the man spoke loud enough for everyone in the shop to hear. "We're staying for a free meal boys – compensation for getting no information."

There were no objections, and with that the three men began moving in Yuke and Toshi's direction in search of an empty table – _not that they won't find one if there aren't any_, Yuke thought to herself as they came closer.

Just to be safe, both girls bent their heads down a little as the three men passed by, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention from them.

In situations like these, it was always best to stay low to avoid any confrontation, especially if it was between a bender and a non-bender like the two of them. Yuke hadn't been lying when she had told Toshi before that she knew how to fight, but she didn't want to put her friend or anyone else in a situation that was potentially dangerous for them. _Just eat your food and leave us in peace_, Yuke's spoke in her mind to the three.

Right when she was sure they were safe from notice, Yuke looked up towards Toshi to find one of the three, a bald man with a small scar just under his left eye, talking to her.

"Please, go away," Toshi was saying to the man with as much composure as she could muster, trying to push off the arm that he had draped over her shoulder.

"Aw come on honey, I promise I'm a nice guy. Just give me a chance to show you -."

"I said, no! Get off of me!" Toshi said a little louder, getting agitated as the man wouldn't budge.

From somewhere behind her, Yuke could hear the other two brutes chuckling as the rest of the shop remained silent in fear of what might happen.

The man by Toshi's side continued to torment her, trying to get her to look at him. "Come on now beautiful, I told you I don't mean to hurt you - ."

"Leave her alone." Yuke's voice suddenly echoed in the otherwise silent restaurant, causing all attention to turn on her.

The brute stopped his tormenting and turned to look at Yuke, an unpleasant snarl stretched across his face. "You got some problem, ugly? Stay outta my business."

"What concerns my friends is my business," Yuke replied coolly, hoping just to get the man away from her friend.

The man gave a growl and stood up straight beside Toshi, nearly knocking her out of her chair in the process.

Yuke stood up as well. "Come on Toshi, we're leaving," she told her in a firm voice, not taking her eyes off the big brute.

Toshi shot a glance at the man, and slowly, hesitantly, moved to get up from her chair.

"Sit down!" The man barked at her and the girl squeaked in fear, shrinking down as she quickly sat back in her chair, throwing a helpless glance towards her friend. The man was now glaring daggers at Yuke, his fists clenched tight by his sides.

"You wanna start something you little brat? Do ya?" He raged and suddenly came towards Yuke, his fist swinging as a blast of fire came right towards her face.

Before Yuke could even think she was dropping to the ground to evade the blow, the fire passing over her head just as her right leg shot up to strike the man on his jaw with a crack. The man went staggering back a couple steps at the sudden strike, and Yuke, still half crouching on the floor, spun around and threw her leg out, kicking him square in the chest and sending him crashing back against the floor several feet away. A weak grunt from him quickly let her know that he wouldn't be getting up for at least a few minutes.

From her peripheral vision she saw movement to her right and quickly jumped up, narrowly dodging a spray of water.

Whirling around, Yuke found herself face to face with the other two men of the triad, each of them now standing from the booth they had previously seated themselves in, the water bender to her left and the earth bender to her right. She narrowed her eyes at each of them, her mind beginning to analyze her situation.

The water bender would be able to use any water around him, and even though he probably had some sort of storage container to keep some on his person at all times, it would most likely severely limit his attacks. On the other hand, the earth bender could be much more dangerous and unpredictable, since he could easily pull up the ground for his own attacks, making his resources nearly unlimited.

As Yuke faced off with the two men, the shops customers quickly began to exit through the back door of the restaurant, leaving those too close to the fighters to either duck and cover or scramble over the booths and tables to try and avoid getting caught in the crossfire.

Time seemed to freeze for a minute as she looked at the two men opposite her, watching both of them for any sudden moves – any eye contact or subtle hints as to what they may be preparing to do.

Without giving the men any more time to think Yuke sprinted forward towards the water bender, twisting at the last minute to narrowly avoid a chunk of rock from the earth bender before punching her

fist into the sphere of water the water bender had sent towards her. The contact stung much more than Yuke expected, and the sphere burst as soon as her fist made contact with it.

Not a moment later the water bender had unleashed another attack on her, only this one much faster with the water condensed into something like a whip, so that when it managed to strike Yuke across the cheek it was powerful enough to draw blood.

Yuke grit her teeth in annoyance and was about to make another charge when suddenly there came two loud cracking noises from behind her opponents before they both fell, unconscious and face forward, into the ground at her feet, their wrists and ankles shackled in rock.

_Uh, what just happened?_ For a minute she just stared at the two men on the ground in front of her before forcing herself to look behind them at the only other people still in the noodle shop. _Have they really been there the whole time?_

The three young men watched Yuke from the other side of the shop, and for a minute she considered attacking them just in case. But none of the three moved, showing no signs that they wished to attack her.

She looked at the two who were standing: one with light skin and dark brown hair, his clenched fist surrounded by a layer of rock; an earth bender; and then the taller one with dark hair and tanned skin; maybe a fire bender? Her eyes carefully moved to look at the third, still seated in the booth as if nothing had happened. The ring leader perhaps? Pale complexion, sleazy look, black wavy hair…_Wait a minute. Wavy hair?_ Yuke frowned for an instant at the man. _Is this Toshi's sudden hot crush?_ Yuke wondered and hoped not.

Her breathing was beginning to return to normal and she spared a look around the shop. If there was anything that would need fixing, it would be various portions of the floor she noted.

Toshi wasn't anywhere to be seen, and Yuke prayed she had made it out alright. Hopefully she or someone else previously in the shop had called the police and they would be arriving any minute to take away the three men now lying across the floor – although she really didn't want to be around when they arrived. Yuke was surprised the fire bender was still down; she didn't think she had hit him that hard, but maybe it was the landing – particularly of his head.

Turning her attention back to the three men, she nodded to the earth bender. "That was you, right?"

"I believe the correct response is 'thank you'," the ring leader replied, finally moving out from the booth.

Yuke took a step back as he moved, not entirely sure what to expect. But the man put his hands up when he came to a stop next to his companions, as if to show that he meant no harm - although Yuke still wasn't entirely convinced of this. _Although they did take out the other two guys…_ she reminded herself.

"Yeah, thanks for that," she stated curtly to the three, suddenly wanting very much to leave. There was no clear way to explain it, but she wasn't particularly comfortable with the aura the three seemed to radiate.

Without another word she made her way to the front door, hoping none of the three young men would stop her, and exited the almost empty shop as fast as possible, constantly aware of the eyes following her back on the way out.


	2. Truth and Witnesses

**Thank you to everyone who read and commented on the first chapter of this story! It makes me really happy and inspires me to write more :) I know beginnings usually start out slow with character introductions and all that, but I promise things will pick up. Since I'm new at this I'm still a little nervous about whether or not people will like the story, but I'm determined to do my best and write a story that fans will enjoy! I don't own anything but my OCs.  
**

* * *

The sky was a mix of black and navy by the time Yuke finally made it home to her family's apartment, the only illumination coming from the high-rise buildings and golden street lights lining the city roads. It was late, she knew – far later than she would have liked.

There was no doubt in her mind that as soon as she made it inside the apartment her mother would be waiting to scold her for being home so late – especially since she was out by herself. She knew she would definitely have some explaining to do to her mother, but she wasn't very keen on mentioning the fight with the Triple Threat Triad. Maybe she could just skip that part for now and say she had lost track of time while out with Toshi.

On her way home, Yuke had managed to clean up the scratch on her face, although a faint mark still remained; a reminder to her of what had happened. In addition to that, a few large bruises were now beginning to appear along her knuckles where she had punched the water bender's sphere, so that every time she clenched her fist, she would be rewarded with a dull ache in her hand.

Yuke unlocked the front door to the apartment slowly, desperately hoping her mother wouldn't be waiting right in front of the door when she opened it. As quietly as possible, she entered the apartment, closing and locking the door behind her and thanking her good fortune that her mother wasn't standing before her at that moment.

The front room and hallway were dark, but farther down Yuke could see that the lights to the living space and one of the bedrooms were on. Letting out a quiet sigh, she began making her way down the narrow hallway towards the light, hoping her mother wouldn't attack her upon sight.

The first illuminated room she came upon was the living space, and holding her breath, Yuke braced herself for the worst as she hesitantly made her way into the room.

The moment Yuke's foot hit the floor her mother's weary eyes were upon her, Yuke's four-year-old brother Rui asleep on her lap. The two women regarded each other silently for a moment before Yuke's mother broke the silence.

"You're late, Yuke. I was beginning to wonder whether or not you were going to come home tonight."

Yuke decided to remain silent until she took a seat on the chair across from her mother. "I'm sorry; I know I'm late Mom. I just went out to eat with Toshi for dinner. We went walking for a bit after our meal and I wasn't really watching the time…so I got back a little later than I was hoping."

She studied her mother's face as she spoke; the woman's faded blue eyes, sharp chin, and greying black hair seeming very pronounced all of a sudden. One look in her mother's eyes and she knew immediately that her mother wasn't buying a word of her story.

"You know you can tell me what really happened. I'm your mother; it's my job to listen to my children – and to worry about them," her mother spoke, her voice growing softer. "When bad things happen, or when people make mistakes, they find that others tend to be much more understanding and forgiving if the truth comes out sooner rather than later."

"But is it the same when people lie to keep others safe – to keep them from worrying?" Yuke asked.

"If the truth is hard to take at one time, that does not mean it will be any easier or harder to take at another. If you were to tell me the truth now, it would save you the trouble of carrying the lie on your shoulders."

Yuke was silent for a moment then, contemplating, and it wasn't until her mother let out a quiet breath that she spoke.

"When Toshi and I went out to dinner, some men from the Triple Threat Triad decided to show up at the restaurant we were eating at. They were looking for information, but no one had any for them. That's when they started the fight," Yuke told her, leaving out the part about Toshi being harassed and her being a part of the fight. She knew it wasn't the _whole_ truth, but it was still _part of_ the truth. "Once they started fighting, everyone started to panic and tried to get out of the restaurant. A few benders took the men down eventually, and all the customers were able to get out. However, there were some of us took a few hits in the chaos," she said, lifting her hand to show her mother the developing bruises.

The woman leaned forward slightly to take Yuke's hand in hers, pulling it closer to examine the bruises before releasing it. She gave no indication as to whether or not she believed all of Yuke's story, or whether she knew her daughter was still keeping some of the truth from her. With a slight nod of her head, she motioned towards Yuke's hand. "It would probably be best if you covered that up while you're at work so as not to cause too much attention. If you want, there's some medical tape in the closet you can use to help cover it. If not, I'm sure we have some bandages somewhere that you can use – although I wouldn't say they're quite as inconspicuous as medical tape."

Yuke gave a small nod in understanding, and her mother slowly rose from her chair, making sure not to disturb the sleeping child in her arms. Then, saying nothing more than a gentle "goodnight" to her daughter, she quietly left the room, leaving Yuke alone in the silence.

Once she could no longer hear her mother's footsteps in the hallway, she too rose from the couch and made her way to her bedroom, closing the door softly behind her and turning on the small lamp by her bedside.

Pulling her shoes off and sitting down on the bed, Yuke glanced at her bedside table, eyes focusing on the small framed photograph just visible in the lamp light. Reaching out, she took the picture in her hand and pulled it closer to her in the dim room, taking in the smiles on the faces of her and her parents as they sat atop some large platform overlooking the ocean.

The picture had been taken years ago, back when she was only six; before her little brother was born and her father had gone away to work. She smiled at the memory of them together, recalling how her mother used to take her to see her father at work during the week where they would all have lunch together.

Things were so much easier back then. _Life_ was so much easier back then.

The remnants of a smile still on her face, she placed the picture back on her bedside table and pulled out her pigtails, placing the hair ties on the table next to the photograph.

She knew she would have to tell her mother about her involvement in the fight eventually; not doing so would probably make things worse in the future. She would have to apologize to Toshi too for what happened. No doubt her friend probably wouldn't want to think or talk about it, but Yuke still felt it was something she needed to do.

Covering her eyes with the palms of her hands, she let herself fall back against her bed, groaning when her head hit the thick, soft blankets. Maybe if she was lucky, everyone would just wake up the next morning with no recollection of anything that had happened the day before.

* * *

When Yuke arrived at work the next day, she was surprised to find Toshi already waiting for her inside the kitchen – even more so when the girl practically tackled her to the ground in a tight hug. "Oh Yuke, I'm so sorry! It's all my fault this happened; I never should have suggested going to that noodle shop in the first place because then I wouldn't have gotten you into that fight, and all those people back there would have been okay, and I'm so sorry I left you all alone back there and -!" the young woman went on and on at a million words per second without stopping.

"Toshi, Toshi, calm down!" Yuke finally managed to breathe, loosening her friend's grip on her and holding the girl firmly away from her by the shoulders. "What happened back there wasn't your fault, so please don't tell yourself that it was. Anyway, I'm the one who should really be apologizing. Fighting with those guys was a bad idea; it put you and all the other people at that shop in danger. I was stupid and reckless, and for that, I'm sorry," Yuke said, her arms dropping to rest at her sides.

"Are you kidding, Yuke! If it wasn't for you, that guy would probably never have left, and then I'd really be in trouble. What happened to those guys anyway? ...you know, since I didn't really stay around," Toshi asked, a look of shame and embarrassment crossing her face.

"Jail I guess," Yuke replied, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm not too sure either. I didn't want to stay around to find out."

"But you fought those guys, right? You won?" she asked and Yuke nodded.

"So did you tell your mother about it then?"

Yuke shook her head. "I told her the truth, but I didn't tell her everything; I didn't tell her that I played a part in the fight. But I'm sure it won't be long until I have to tell her the rest of the story – about what these bruises are really from," she explained, holding up her fist for Toshi to see the medical tape she had wrapped around her knuckles to hide the bruises with.

Toshi shook her head. "Taking on the Triple Threat Triad on your own…you're really something Yuke, you know that? Maybe one day I'll be able to help you take some of those guys on – although I don't think I'll beat myself up quite like you do," she mused.

"Yeah, that'll be the day." Yuke laughed and began preparing for work, all the while hoping the day would be better than the last.

While the day did end up running smoother than the previous one, it wasn't in any way easier. As usual, the customers started pouring in the moment lunch time hit, only this time their number was at least three times as large – most likely the result of the pro-bending season starting in the next few days Yuke figured.

As soon as the season started, the city usually grew more crowded with fans of the sport coming in from out of town and sometimes even from other lands across the sea. All it meant to Yuke though was longer shifts, more people, and more money.

* * *

"Looks like you and I are going to be working the night shift tonight," Toshi alerted Yuke as she passed an order form to one of the chefs behind the counter.

"Oh, I hate the night shift," Yuke groaned as she lifted some bowls onto a tray for service. "That's specifically why I signed up to work earlier shifts in the day – so I wouldn't get stuck with the drunkards and party-goers in the late hours."

"Well you know as well as I that once these pro-bending fans come in the city grows a little rowdier every week – just wait till the championship and finals come around; you haven't seen anything yet."

"Yeah, yeah, don't remind me. Besides, I think I got enough of an idea when I first came to work here." She informed her friend, looking over her shoulder and out the kitchen door to the endless groups of people still coming into the restaurant. "Think you could call my mom for me and tell her I'll be working the night shift with you?" she asked Toshi, raising an eyebrow.

The black-haired girl nodded. "I think I could manage that."

"Thanks - and make sure you don't tell her about yesterday while you're on," Yuke instructed her. "I don't want to have to worry about all that when I'm supposed to be working."

"Yes ma'am," Toshi replied, standing up strait and saluting in mock-gesture as if she were a soldier receiving orders from a general, making both girls laugh in response.

"Alright then," Yuke nodded and left the kitchen, both hands carrying trays of food and drinks.

One of the first things Yuke had learned from working her first night shift a few months ago was that the restaurant was never built to hold more than 60 people. That night, it had taken much more effort to bring out orders without tripping over outstretched limbs or stepping on people who didn't have enough room to move out of her way.

Now the restaurant was just as clustered as Yuke remembered from those few months ago, with people cramming into booths and squeezing past people to get in and out through the door. Slipping past tables and apologizing when she stepped on someone's foot – it was like trying to walk across a mine field full of holes as she did her best not to drop any of the food on her trays.

By the time she had dropped food off at least a dozen times and returned to the kitchen balancing four trays of empty dishes each round, she was wondering how in the world the restaurant could possibly get any more crowded during the finals of the pro-bending tournament. Was it even possible for them to have enough food for all the people coming in in just this one night? But then how busy would that make the week of the championship round?

Yuke didn't want to think about it at the moment, and dropped off the dirty dishes for whoever was on dish duty to clean, leaning back against the wall for a moment to catch her breath, listening to the radio on one of the empty storage shelves next to her.

The announcer was talking about some sort of speech given outside one of the government buildings earlier that day, speaking passionately with excitement about the event before his voice was replaced by a young girl's, causing Yuke to lean in closer to the radio as she struggled to hear the words over the crowd outside of the kitchen.

"…I'm still in training but, look, all I know is Avatar Aang meant for this city to be the center of peace and balance in the world, and I believe we can make his dream a reality. I look forward to serving you… I'm so happy to be here. Thank you Republic City!"

The girl's speech was cut off by the announcer and Yuke stopped listening, hardly able to believe it. "So it's true," she whispered to herself. "Those Triple Threat Triad guys weren't lying. The Avatar has come to Republic City."

She was just about to brave another trip out of the kitchen to collect dishes when all of a sudden Toshi burst through the kitchen door, her eyes wide and face flushed pink.

"See another hot guy?" Yuke asked, not paying much attention to the girl in front of her.

"No, it's not another hot guy," Toshi spoke giddily, and Yuke saw her friend was practically jumping up and down with excitement. "It's _the_ hot guy."

"_The_ hot guy? What the-?" Yuke froze for a moment and then rushed over to the kitchen door, peeking out its round glass window with as little suspicion as possible. "Where? Where is he?" she asked, turning around to ask Toshi.

The girl raised her eyebrow in response and smiled at Yuke. "Oh? Interested in finding a hot guy for ourselves now are we?"

"N-no. It's just… I-I need to see something," she told Toshi, trying to hide the embarrassment on her face.

"He's sitting in one of the booths on the left, four back from here – the guy with the pale skin and wavy black hair," Toshi said eyeing her friend, a smug look on her face.

Yuke squinted her eyes in the direction her friend pointed out; trying not to catch any attention from customers as her eyes came to rest upon _the_ hot guy. Not a split second later she flung herself away from the door and back against the side wall, her arms and legs splayed out, giving her the appearance of some kind of mime, a look of utmost horror written across her face.

Toshi looked down at her in confusion. "Did you see him?"

Yuke nodded. "Yes, I saw him_." Unfortunately_, her mind added.

"Then why do you look like you're about to be struck down by lightning?"

"Let's just say I wasn't the only one who ended up fighting those triad guys the other day…" Yuke trailed off while straightening herself away from the wall.

"You mean he was the one who really took out the three men at the noodle shop last night? I thought you told me that was you?"

"I may have had a little help," Yuke mumbled grudgingly, her face turning the faintest shade of pink.

"Oh my gosh, then you have to introduce me!" Toshi exclaimed and grabbed her arm, ready to pull her out into the chaos that was the dining area of the restaurant.

"Oh no, no way. I am _not_ going out to see Mr. Hair Gel. I don't even know the guy!"

"But you just said he helped you?"

"Yeah but that doesn't mean I talked to him – much less asked for his name, number, and place of residency like you probably would."

Toshi looked at her friend for a second before glancing out the window and then turning back to face Yuke again. "You think I'd stand a chance?" she suddenly asked out of the blue.

"What?"

"I said, do you think I'd stand a chance?"

"What, like a boyfriend-girlfriend thing?" Yuke frowned at the girl in front of her. "I don't know. The guy looks like he's got his own fan girl club with him and his mates right now…" she commented.

Toshi let out a disappointed sigh. "Maybe when I take his order I can try and talk to him," she thought to herself out loud.

Yuke shook her head. "If you're really that interested, then I say go for it. Just as long as _I_ don't have to do anything, I've got no problem with-."

"Okay, wish me luck!" Toshi said before Yuke had even finished her sentence, giving her a brief but tight squeeze as she headed out the door, a pen and paper in her hands.

Yuke didn't bother to finish her sentence and smiled at her friend's eagerness. Sometimes that girl could really surprise her.

* * *

As soon as Yuke stepped out of the kitchen, she was once again greeted by a rush of customers with waiters and servers rushing around to fill and carry out orders for food and drink. Glancing briefly to her right as she dropped off some food to a family of four, she noticed that Toshi was still chatting at Mr. Sleazy's table – she was pretty sure it had been at least five minutes since she had left the kitchen to take their orders.

Moving to a closer table do drop off the rest of the food, she threw a glance at Toshi, who appeared to be in a very intriguing conversation with two of the girls and the sleaze ball himself. She didn't try listening in on what he was saying though – no doubt it was probably something worth missing out on hearing. She didn't, however, miss the brief shift in his gaze towards her, or the slight upturn of his mouth when she made eye-contact with him a second later.

Yuke felt herself blush lightly at the sudden attention, but quickly regained her composure to narrow her eyes at the man, her teeth clenching tight inside her mouth when he finally looked away. _Why that no-good, dirty little -!_ Yuke quickly stopped herself before her mind decided to say any more. It wasn't worth it to spend her time cursing at him in her head when he obviously wouldn't be able to hear her.

On the way back to the kitchen, she stopped by Mr. Creepy's table and gave Toshi a friendly tap on the shoulder, trying her best not to glare instead at the man sitting next to her in the booth. "Hey Toshi, chef says he needs your order pronto," she lied her friend, whose only reply was giving her a pouting look.

Turning back to the table, Toshi politely excused herself with a smile and headed off in the direction of the kitchen, but not before throwing one last glance over her shoulder at Mr. Hair Gel.

Once she was gone, Yuke shifted to look down at Wavy Hair Guy with distaste. "I'd kindly ask you not to distract any of the workers while we're busy, sir," she told the man, putting emphasis on the last word to show that she held little patience for him.

"And what about when you're not busy?" the man asked, his voice deep and smooth, sending shivers up Yuke's spine. She hadn't remembered his voice sounding like that the other day. While normally a guy with a voice like that could have even caught her attention in a crowd, such a voice coming from him made him sound all the more snake-like and creepy to her.

"Excuse me sir, but I need to return to my duties," Yuke said as politely as possible, refusing to answer his previous question as she turned on her heels.

"You know, for a non-bender you fight pretty well."

As soon as the words came out of his mouth Yuke stopped in her tracks, slowly turning back around to look at Snake Face. "I have to admit, I was a little surprised when you stood up to those triad men the other day; that's not something most benders would even consider doing – unless they're the police of course. You should be careful next time you run into those guys though. Word can get around pretty fast in the triads; you wouldn't want to have an entire gang coming after you. A non-bender like you wouldn't stand a chance without some benders on your side."

"What are you trying to say?" Yuke asked, her jaw beginning to clench. "You trying to tell me I couldn't have taken those three men out by myself if it hadn't been for you guys?"

"Oh no, nothing of the sort…but the way things were starting to go, I think you would have had a harder time if it weren't for me and my friends."

"Yeah, well, I've never really fought much with a bender before so, sorry for not being a bender like you and your friends Mr. …"

"Tahno."

"Mr. Tah-."

"Just Tahno," the man corrected her before she had finished, a grin forming on his face.

_Yeah, whatever,_ Yuke spoke unenthusiastically to him in her mind.

"You know, as a water bender myself, I could always give you a few pointers on fighting a bender. I could even get in with you on some one-on-one fighting if you wanted to, Yuke," Tahno offered her, leaning closer.

Yuke took a step back from him. "How do you know my name? Did Toshi tell you?" she asked, thinking of the first possible and most plausible explanation.

Tahno nodded and motioned with his head towards where Toshi had disappeared into the kitchen. "You're pretty little friend over there has a pretty big mouth when she gets excited," he explained. "Sometimes little things like that just slip out unexpectedly without one knowing."

With those words he moved to lean back into the booth, turning himself towards his group who were engrossed in some discussion regarding pro-bending. His eyes didn't leave Yuke though when he spoke again. "You enjoy your work now, little bird, and maybe we'll see each other again sometime soon."

The phrase wasn't so much a suggestion as it was a promise, and without a departing word to the man, Yuke quickly turned and walked away from the table, hurrying back around the flow of customers and into the safety of the kitchen.

Once inside, she let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and dropped the trays she had been carrying onto the counter beside her. Leaning over the sink on her elbows, she closed her eyes and rubbed her thumb and pointer finger along the bridge of her nose. What was she doing? She had just told Toshi to get back to work, only to get caught in a conversation herself. How annoying_… Ugh, I'm such an idiot! I can't believe I let that guy talk to me. Why the heck didn't I just walk away? I knew I wouldn't like that guy… I just hope Toshi was busy enough not to notice us or I'm never going to hear the end of it,_ she thought to herself.

"Um, excuse me miss, are you okay?"

Yuke nearly jumped out of her skin at the unexpected voice behind her and spun around, catching sight of a man who looked to be in his late twenties standing against the back wall.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!" the man said, clearly distressed that he had startled her.

"No, no, it's alright," Yuke assured him, waving her hand dismissively before taking a breath to calm herself. "You just…surprised me is all; I didn't see you there." _When did he get there, and why didn't I see him when I came in before?_ She wondered.

"Yeah, guess I should have knocked or something first," the man replied, scratching the back of his head and looking somewhat embarrassed.

"So, um, was there something you needed, sir?" Yuke asked politely, curious and yet a little suspicious as to why the man was in the kitchen. Most customers – most people – didn't tend to just waltz back into the kitchen, unannounced, to chat with employees.

"Oh right. Look, I know you're really busy with work and all, and I know you probably don't want to talk much about it, but… I saw you fight those three triad men last night." Yuke stiffened and breathed in sharply. "I was hoping I could talk -."

"No. You can stop right there. I'm sorry – and I promise I don't mean to be rude – but you're right; I really don't want to talk about this. If there's something else you want or need to ask me about, go ahead. Otherwise, please leave, because customers really aren't allowed to be back here," she told the man.

His expression grew more serious and he nodded. "I understand, but I think you should know: I'm not with the police. Nor do I intend to tell them about you and what you did to those men yesterday."

"Then what do you want with me?" Yuke asked, starting to consider calling in one of higher-ups at the restaurant to escort the man out. She had wasted enough time already talking with Tahno, and this man was now wasting more of that time. If she spent too much time away from her duties, she could be looking to get a talk with her boss and a decline in her paycheck – neither of which she intended to have.

The man now looked at her straight in the eyes, his expression dead serious and his voice low. "Tell me miss, have you ever heard of the Equalists?"


	3. An Offer and a Ticket

**I present to you all: chapter 3. :) Once again, a big thanks to everyone who read and left a review/comment on this story – you guys are awesome! Now I would have published this chapter sooner, but after I wrote it, the more I thought about it and the more I read over it, the more I realized that I really didn't like it. So I scrapped the original chapter and wrote the whole thing over again. Hopefully everyone will find it to their liking. As usual, I own no one and nothing but my OCs. **

* * *

"Tell me miss, have you ever heard of the Equalists?"

The question caught Yuke a little off guard and she frowned at the man. "The Equalists: the organization of non-benders against benders?"

The man nodded.

"Yes, I've heard of them," Yuke replied. She honestly didn't know of anyone who hadn't. "Why?"

"What do you think of them?" he asked, almost sounding nonchalant.

_This guy is so weird…_ Yuke thought to herself. She almost felt like laughing at how the man switched back and forth from being serious to relaxed. She shrugged lazily. "I can't say I have an opinion of them or anything; I don't really pay that much attention to them to be perfectly honest. All I know about them is the stuff they write in the papers or the things they say on the radio."

"But do you believe in – do you support – what they do?"

Yuke was silent, and just barely narrowed her eyes at the man. "Who are you?"

"I am a brother of the organization," was the man's only reply.

"You're an Equalist," she said, the statement sounding almost like a question. She knew she sounded surprised at this, although she shouldn't have had reason to be. It was clearly obvious that the man was an Equalist based off the questions he was asking her, in addition to his seemingly cautious nature. "What would -."

She was cut off the next second as a young girl with short black hair entered the room, balancing multiple trays of dirty dishes.

For a moment the girl stopped where she was, as if unsure whether or not she had just interrupted a private conversation and should leave. Yet she quickly caught herself and blinked once before frowning at the man. "I'm sorry sir, you -."

"It's okay Lin," Yuke told the girl quickly, recognizing her as one of the waitresses – most likely preparing for dish duty as she set aside the trays she had been carrying and turned on the sink faucet. "He was just about to leave anyway," she said, looking the man in the eyes.

Lin glanced from Yuke to the man and he nodded in confirmation.

"If it's okay with you, I'd like to talk after you get off work tonight," the man told Yuke quietly as he made his way towards the door to the dining area.

"I'll consider it," she replied with a nod, aware that Lin was still watching them from the sink. Her tone didn't sound incredibly convincing, but the man still thanked her anyway and exited the kitchen, leaving her alone with Lin.

When Yuke turned to face the girl washing dishes, she quickly looked away from her, as if to pretend that she hadn't been paying attention to them.

Yuke took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She really didn't want to go talk to that man again. True, she didn't have to, but there was something pushing her in the back of her mind – something urging her to talk to him. He had told her he was an Equalist, and that he had seen her fight the triad men the other day. Whatever it was that he wanted to talk with her about… Yuke could only guess.

Nevertheless, she still found herself intrigued, and that was what worried her.

* * *

It was just past nine when Yuke finished working and the restaurant's customers finally began to clear out. Tahno and his group had left earlier much to her relief, but the Equalist man she had briefly spoken to earlier in the kitchen was still present, having seated himself in one of the booths at the front left corner of the restaurant.

On the opposite side of the restaurant Toshi waved to Yuke, indicating that she was ready to leave. "Come on slow-poke, I want to go home!"

"Alright, I'll be with you in a couple minutes," she replied as she made her way to the man in the booth, paying little attention to the look of impatience Toshi gave her in response.

She wasted no time crossing the span of the dining area and inviting herself to sit on the other side of the booth, facing the man directly as she crossed her arms on the table and leaned forward. "Talk. Now," she told him, her tone letting him know that she meant business. The words sounded a bit harsher than she intended, but she easily dismissed her concern.

If this man was indeed a member of the Equalists like he said he was, then she would have to be careful. It wasn't uncommon to meet a person every now and then who outwardly expressed their dislike and distrust of benders, but typically their feelings often led benders and a number of non-benders to have a tense relationship with them. While benders were accused of using their gifts to take advantage of non-benders, the Equalists were accused of threatening the peace established between benders and non-benders.

"I know it's late, and since I can't stay here for much longer, I will get straight to the point," the man promised, and Yuke nodded, watching him closely. "As I mentioned before, I saw you fight those men from the Triple Threat Triad yesterday, and I must admit I was very impressed. For someone as young as yourself to have skills like that – especially as a non-bender – I think is a very rare thing indeed… and it is for that reason that I would like to ask you to consider joining the Equalists."

Time suddenly seemed to freeze around Yuke, and she couldn't stop her eyes from widening in shock. There was silence for a brief moment between the two of them; Yuke didn't know how to reply – much less how to speak. While the idea of him saying such a thing had easily crossed her mind beforehand, she found that it was much harder to register and believe that the man was actually giving her the offer in reality.

Yuke opened her mouth to speak, closed it, and then opened it again. Butterflies were flooding into her stomach. "I…" She had no idea what to say and the man across from her continued.

"You're fighting skills would be of much use in protecting non-benders against the unjust actions of benders, and the Equalists can teach you other ways to fight as well. Since there are people who don't approve of our beliefs, we have to keep most of our operations and locations hidden for safety, but I promise you that the Equalists are good people. I think it would do you well to join us."

"Is – is this some kind of joke? You're not really serious are you?" Yuke asked, laughing nervously as she was finally able to speak.

The look on the man's face told her otherwise, and she swallowed nervously before trying to carry on the conversation as if it were some sort of joke.

"Besides, I wasn't really the one who took those guys out – it was benders who did all that. You said you saw me fight, so you must have seen that too, right? I was lucky just to get one of them without taking too much damage."

"I did see them," the man replied, "but it was you I was watching. You took the biggest risk: initially going up against those men by yourself with no bending to protect you. That takes a lot of courage and determination," the man spoke passionately. "If you had been a bender, I would not have paid you any notice. Yet you weren't a bender; you were someone who had to rely on their own natural capabilities to fight and win. _That_ is why I am asking you to consider joining the Equalists."

Yuke was silent even after the man finished speaking, allowing herself to slowly fall back against the booth's green cushions as a million thoughts rushed through her head. This man was serious; he actually wanted her to join the Equalists. But could she really do it? Could she work with them and easily oppose benders? What would Toshi – what would her _family_ – think of her joining such an organization? The questions and concerns kept coming until Yuke felt her head would explode from all of them.

"I don't know," she finally managed to tell the man. "I'd have to think about it."

The man nodded in understanding, and she noticed his face suddenly seemed nicer somehow, his voice sympathetic when he spoke again. "Of course. I know this must be a lot to ask of you so suddenly. I don't need your answer immediately; you can take as much time as you need to think about it."

Yuke nodded. "Thank you."

They sat there in silence for another minute until Yuke's head cleared and she felt that she could stand without her thoughts making her dizzy.

The man stood from the booth then, watching her as she too moved out from her seat. Once she was standing, he turned to face her squarely, extended his hand. "I'm Gen, by the way."

"Gen." Yuke repeated the name quietly for her own sake and the man smiled. _Geez this guy is strange. I can't tell if he's serious or if he's easy-going. It's like he can't decide what emotions he should be showing,_ she thought to herself before replying. "I'm Yuke," she told him, outstretching her own hand to shake his. It only seemed like the polite thing to do – that and she was starting to feel a little bad about being so harsh to him earlier. _Even if he is kind of weird,_ she almost smiled nervously to herself.

Gen released her hand from his and with a nod of recognition, turned to leave the restaurant.

"My decision…" Yuke started before Gen could walk away. "Not that I've made one yet, but if I choose to come with you, how do I let you know?"

Gen looked over his shoulder and smiled. "You know where Future Industries is – the place where they manufacture Satomobiles?"

"I think so. I could always get directions if I'm not sure," she answered.

"Go there and ask for me. I spend a lot of my time working at the factory, so chances are I'll be there if you go." Yuke gave a nod and Gen took his leave, giving her a salute as he left. "See you around, Yuke."

When the door closed behind him, Yuke slapped her hands to her face and let out a sigh.

"Hello~?"

Yuke jumped back, startled as Toshi was suddenly in her face. "Toshi!" she said in surprise. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I promise I didn't mean to keep you waiting so long. There was someone I -."

Toshi, hands on her hips, let out an annoyed sigh and rolled her eyes. "Ugh, whatever. Sometimes I really wonder about you." She reached out and grabbed Yuke's wrist and began dragging her towards the front door. "Now let's get going before you find someone else you want to waste time talking to; I'm beat."

"Amen to that" Yuke said, feeling exhausted herself as her friend pulled her out the door.

* * *

Yuke studied Toshi closely as they made their way down the city streets, suspicious as to why the girl wouldn't stop smiling; she was half-expecting flowers to start bursting from her head and the ground she walked on.

"You're in an awfully happy mood for someone who's supposed to be incredibly tired," she commented on her friend's energetic presence. "What're you so excited about?"

"Oh nothing," Toshi replied rather unconvincingly, looking up towards the night sky and the golden-lit buidlings. "Just, you know, going to hang out with some friends and all tomorrow."

Yuke raised an eyebrow. "Go on…"

Toshi turned and beamed at her, stopping suddenly on the sidewalk and throwing a hand out into Yuke's face, making her friend stumble back until she saw that in her hand she held two small pieces of paper.

"Huh?" was all she could say as she moved closer, squinting in the street-light to make out the dark printing on the papers. She peered intently at them, and a moment later her eyes grew wide in surprise as her mind registered the words 'pro-bending' and 'ticket.'

Speechless, all Yuke could do was look up at her friend, her jaw practically dropping onto the sidewalk.

"Surprised?" Toshi replied with a smile and a laugh.

"How – how did you get them? I thought these things were expensive? These seats are right up front!" She could barely contain her excitement as she motioned towards the tickets her friend held out in front of her. "Are these – is one of these, mine?"

"You bet. Got them just today – for free too," she added, motioning for Yuke to take one of them from her. Yuke took one of the tickets gratefully, hardly able to believe her luck.

Pro-bending, while popular, wasn't something everyone was able to afford to see. The arena it took place in was big, but not big enough to hold every single fan of the sport; that's why tickets were usually difficult to come by. With hundreds – possibly thousands – of fans, there were a limited number of tickets per match that usually weren't very cheap, allowing for the more well-off people to pay to experience the matches. For people like Toshi and Yuke to get a pair was definitely a rarity. Sure their families weren't living in poverty or anything like that, but they were still part of the working class, which meant that sometimes money could be difficult to come by and payments could be tight.

"Toshi, this is amazing!" Yuke exclaimed, barely able to contain her excitement. "I mean, I've always wanted to go see a game and, wow, this is just so unbelievable! Thank you so much!" she cried, jumping forward to catch her friend in a tight hug.

Toshi laughed and hugged her back. "I knew you'd like it. Just think: tomorrow night we're gonna be stuffing our faces with food and screaming our heads off as a bunch of guys beat the crap out of each other!"

Yuke laughed. "We're going to a pro-bending match, Toshi, not a wrestling match. How were you able to get the tickets for free anyway?" she asked, pulling away from Toshi.

Her friend scratched her head and looked away from Yuke for a minute, a barely visible trace of pink dusting her cheeks. "Remember the guy at the restaurant tonight? The one that you said you saw yesterday…" she trailed off, noticing the unpleasant look creeping across her friends face.

"Oh, Toshi, don't tell me that you -."

"Come on, Yuke. Please don't be mad. He gave me these tickets free for the both of us. Free! Pro-bending tickets! How often are you going to come by something like that in your life time?" Yuke shook her head in disbelief and Toshi frowned at her, a look of hurt crossing her face. "For crying out loud, Yuke! So what if the guy saw you and helped you out against those triad men last night? Stop being so sensitive about it, will you!"

"But he -."

"I don't care! Can't you just let the whole thing go? Honestly, Yuke…" The girl let out a frustrated sigh and ran a hand through her hair. "Look," she spoke in a calmer voice a moment later, "I realize you don't like the guy, but can't you at least give him a break? I know I don't really know him that well either, but that doesn't mean you have to assume he's automatically a bad guy. Please, Yuke," she said, taking her friend's hand in her own. "Promise me that you'll give him a chance."

Yuke fell quiet for a moment. As much as she didn't want to admit it, Toshi was right. She didn't like Tahno, but that didn't mean she had to be a jerk to Toshi and complain about him every time he came up in a conversation.

"Alright; I'm sorry," she told Toshi, unable to look her friend in the eye. "I know I've been a jerk to you about him since that fight. God, I'm so stupid," she said and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I've been giving you a hard time about it all lately. The experience probably had a bigger impact on you than me, and here I am handling the situation worse than you," she told Toshi, feeling pathetic and ashamed. "I'm sorry; I know it's not your fault. I just… I don't know. I never expected to get involved in a fight with those guys, and now I 'm just panicking thinking about what might happen because of it; I feel like the police are going to come after me or something like that." She looked Toshi in the eye. "I promise I'll stop complaining and give Tahno a chance. Please forgive me."

Toshi regarded her for a minute before pulling her back into a tight hug. "Of course I'll forgive you, Yuke; that's what friends are for. I'm sorry too for shouting at you like that. I'm tired and I was frustrated with you, but I shouldn't have gone telling you about it the way I did."

For a minute they stood like that on the sidewalk, not caring that some of the people passing by were giving them strange looks. The two may have looked weird to everyone else, but then at least they looked weird together.

* * *

"So, you did talk to him after all," Toshi smiled at Yuke once they had begun walking again.

"H-how do you figure that?" Yuke asked, blushing.

"Well you did say his name back there when I was yelling at you, didn't you? I certainly never told you his name."

"Oh, yeah," she mumbled, embarrassed. "Well, I didn't really mean to talk to him. He started talking on his own," she explained, feeling a little nervous as Toshi seemed to lean closer in observance. "Anyway, um, when you said you were going to hang out with friends tomorrow, did you mean friends from before, or…?"

"Actually, I was talking about some of Tahno's friends that I met at dinner tonight," she replied, looking slightly sheepish.

Yuke was about to comment on how she didn't think it was the best idea, but quickly stopped herself, remembering the promise she had made not even five minutes ago to her friend – giving Tahno a chance most likely meant giving his friends a chance as well.

"I know I just met them, but they were nice. You should come with me tomorrow, Yuke. We're just going to hang out and talk for a bit before heading to the pro-bending arena. Who knows, maybe we'll both make some new friends," she said, nudging Yuke in the arm as if to say "you know you want to."

Yuke let out a laugh and nudged Toshi back. "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to come with you for a little while, assuming I'm not needed at home," she admitted.

"Aw come on, it'll be fun," Toshi encouraged her with a smile. "It'll take your mind off of things; give you time to relax and have fun for once."

"Are you saying I'm not fun?"

"…Maybe."

Yuke let out an overly dramatic gasp. "I'm insulted," she said, feigning hurt, and the two girls laughed.

"So who was that guy you were talking to anyway – the one after work I mean?" Toshi asked.

"Oh, er, he just wanted to talk to me about some work stuff," Yuke said, not looking at Toshi when she spoke.

"You were dead serious almost the whole time he was talking to you."

"Eh? Really? I didn't even notice," Yuke lied. "I didn't really want to spend too much time talking to the guy since it was already pretty late for us to be out anyway. So I figured the more serious I looked and the faster I answered his questions, I sooner I would get to leave."

"I bet that said a lot to the guy about how you feel about your job," Toshi told her and Yuke shrugged.

"Hey, I can't help it if I'm tired and don't want to talk. Next time I'll be sure to send everyone to you since you'd _obviously_ do a better job of dragging out the conversation when you're tired," she replied with a hint of sarcasm.

"That's okay. You don't have to. I wouldn't want to steal all the fun from you anyway."

"Oh, you're no fun Toshi!" Yuke joked as the girls reached the point where they would go their separate ways.

"So I'll meet you outside my place around eleven?" Toshi offered and Yuke nodded.

"Sure; unless you've got a better place to meet?" Toshi shook her head and began heading off towards her own home. "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow then, Toshi" Yuke called after her.

"Alright. See ya! Don't be late!"

"I won't be…probably," she trailed off at the end.

"What did you say?"

"I didn't say anything," she lied with a smile and began heading off on her own.

In the distance she heard a clock tower chime; it was 10.

Yuke let out a sigh. _I'm so glad Toshi called my Mom to let her know I would be home later this evening, _Yuke though to herself. _I can't imagine how much trouble I would be in if I was late getting home multiple nights in a row without letting her know. With my luck she would probably tie me up, lock me in a trunk, and then stow it under the floorboards… _

* * *

By the time Yuke woke up the next morning, she found her mother and brother already gone from the house, a small note left on the kitchen table. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Yuke picked up the note and quickly skimmed over its contents: 'Yuke, you were still asleep when we got up this morning, so I left some breakfast for you by the sink if you're hungry. As you've probably noticed, Rui and I have already headed off to daycare and work for the day, so make sure to lock up the house if you decide to go anywhere. We'll be back around dinner time in case you should want to join us; if you don't, please try not to stay out too late.'

Yuke let out a yawn and placed the note back on the kitchen table. She never understood why her mother didn't worry about her when she didn't have work but did worry about her when she was late on work nights. _Honestly, if I were to go out and do something worrisome, or if something worrisome were to happen, it would most likely be when I'm not at work, right?_ she thought to heself.

Walking over to the sink and getting a glass of water, Yuke's eye briefly caught sight of the clock hanging on the wall and nearly spit out her water. "Oh crap! Toshi said to meet her at her apartment at 11, didn't she! I've only got twenty minutes!"

Not bothering to finish her water, Yuke sprinted into the bathroom to shower and tidy up before digging through her dresser and closet for something to wear, quickly settling on a loose pair of dark green pants and a dark grey sleeveless shirt. It wasn't anything fancy, but then again she was never one to dress up very often. Putting her hair in pigtails and stuffing some money in her pocket, she pulled on her shoes and rushed out the front door, nearly forgetting to lock it in her haste.

She knew she had at least seven minutes left before her scheduled meeting time, but knew it would take longer than that to get to her friend's apartment. _Not if I sprint there…_ she told herself, although she doubted even she would be able to do such a thing.

Nevertheless, she kept a surprisingly good running pace as she made her way through the city streets, while still being careful not to get hit by any Satomobiles.

Crossing one street she came close to causing an accident, but fortunately for her the driver managed to stop in time before he could hit her. Yuke let out a relieved sigh. _That was too close. I'm sure my mom would have been really happy if she had turned on the news to hear that I got hit by a Satomobile while on my way to see a friend,_ she mused. _Maybe it wouldn't hurt to slow my pace a little, even if it does mean being fashionably late… Then again, why I'm in such a rush to be on time to meet some -._

"Look out!"

Yuke let out a cry of confusion and surprise as a small red and white animal suddenly darted out in front of her, forcing her stop at the last second and nearly fall forward, right before her balance was completely lost by someone crashing into her from the side.

Yuke grunted as she hit the ground and rubbed her shoulder as she slowly moved to sit up. "Ugh, that hurt. What the heck was that?" she questioned out loud, looking around for whoever had run into her.

A short distance to her left she saw a young man with dark brown hair slowly push himself up into a sitting position; no doubt the one who had knocked her down. The young man too began to look around and in an instant noticed Yuke on the ground as well.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" he asked, coming to Yuke's side in a flash.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine," she told him honestly. If anything she probably just had a bruise from the impact of the fall.

The young man offered her his hand and she took it, letting him pull her up to her feet. As soon as she was up, the young man began to apologize. "I'm so sorry. I didn't see you till the last moment, and by then it was too late. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it. I wasn't paying very much attention so it's my fault too," she said, dusting her pants off.

The young man let out a sigh of relief. "Yeah, I was kind of in a hurry myself," he said and reached into his shirt to pull out what Yuke assumed was the creature she had seen running by her before she was knocked over. "Pabu here decided that he wanted to find a snack and took off when I wasn't paying attention," he frowned accusingly at the white and red creature.

"Is that… a fire ferret?" Yuke asked, bending over to look at the small furry creature he held in his hand.

"Yep. This is Pabu; he's the team mascot," the young man said with a smile.

Yuke frowned and looked up at him as she reached out and rubbed Pabu's head with her finger. "Team mascot?"

"Yeah. You know, the Fire Ferrets; the pro-bending team," he said, as if it were obvious.

"Hold on a second," Yuke said, taking a step back from him. "Are you saying what I think you're saying? You're a member of the Fire Ferrets?"

The young man jerked a thumb towards himself and grinned at her. "That's me. Bolin of the Fire Ferrets, at your service."


	4. Probending

**Hello everyone! It took a while to write, but I am now finally able to give you all chapter 4. As usual, I'd like to thank all of my reviewers for their kind words – you guys really do motivate me a lot. So a big thanks to: ****cennex****, ****Inferable Hell****, ****Hallovveenndragon****, **** - I****, ****Shadows of Silver****, ****soundnebula****, ****angelbeets****, and ****Garnet Literature****. You guys rock! And of course a big thanks to all my readers too (even if you don't leave a review, I'm still glad that you've decided to read my fic.) Once again, I own nothing but my OCs. Enjoy!**

* * *

Yuke's eyes widened as the words came out of Bolin's mouth. "The Fire Ferrets. _The_ Fire Ferrets," she repeated, as if to make sure she had heard him correctly.

"The one and only," Bolin answered, a grin still stretched across his face.

Yuke smiled and brushed some of the hair out of her eyes, hardly able to believe she had actually run into a member of the Fire Ferrets. "Whoa, that's so cool! From what I've heard on the radio you guys are really surpassing everyone's expectations – especially as a rookie team," she noted. "I've heard a lot of talk that fans think you're going to make it into the pro-bending finals too."

"Really?" Bolin asked, seeming genuinely surprised before continuing. "Well it's still a little early to be thinking about that, but as long as we're in the game, we're going to be shooting for number one. We've been giving it our all this year; can't let people underestimate us just cause we're new, you know?"

Yuke nodded in agreement.

"So what's your name?" he inquired, his warm tone making conversation between the two of them easy.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I haven't introduced myself, have I? I'm Yuke," she said, giving Bolin a warm smile and extending her hand out to him.

"Yuke…cool name! Nice to meet you, Yuke," Bolin replied, and stretched his own hand out to firmly shake hers.

"So are you guys going to be playing at the arena tonight?" she asked once they had finished shaking hands.

"Yep; third match of the night against the Tigerdillos. You want to come? I could get you in for free," he offered, wiggling his eyebrows at her. "I'm sure no one would mind a pretty girl like yourself coming."

Yuke laughed lightly at his flirting and shook her head. "Thanks, but no thanks. I've already got tickets for tonight's match with a fr-." She stopped short in her reply when she realized what she was saying. _Oh no, Toshi's waiting for me right now! I'm already late as it is,_ she thought, and as if on cue heard the clock tower chime in the distance.

Quickly dusting her pants off, she smiled apologetically at Bolin. "Well, it was really nice meeting you. Sorry I can't stay to talk longer, but I'm late for an outing with some friends."

Bolin shook his head and waved his hand as if telling her not to worry. "No, no. It's no problem at all. Sorry again for running into you… and Pabu says sorry too," he said, holding the fire ferret up and making it mimic a bow of apology.

"Well, be sure to tell Pabu no to worry about it. Anyway, good luck at your match tonight. I'll be sure to cheer you guys on," Yuke waved at him as she moved to head towards Toshi's apartment.

"Okay, have fun! Feel free to drop by the players' locker room afterwards. I'll be there," he called out to her, as if his presence was obviously the reason why she would want to go there.

"Seriously?" she called back.

"You bet. Think of it as part of my apology for knocking you down and making you late for your date."

"Alright; I'll think about it," she teased with a smile, and with a final wave of farewell began running again.

It was no more than a couple minutes later that she finally reached her friend's apartment, slightly winded from her run. Toshi raised an eyebrow at Yuke as she watched her approach, and shook her head as she watched the eighteen-year-old bend over to catch her breath.

"Hey, I'm not that late," Yuke frowned as Toshi moved from where she had positioned herself against the door frame and out into the street beside her.

"Just fashionably?"

"Of course. Although I wasn't late on purpose this time; I ran into one of the Fire Ferrets."

Toshi rolled her eyes and the girls started walking. "Yeah right."

"No really, I did! He said his name was Bolin. I know you've heard of him, right? Bolin of the Fire Ferrets?"

Toshi frowned at her. "You're putting me on."

"He said I could come by after the match if I wanted." She leaned towards Toshi. "You can come with me if you want – I'll prove it to you that I met him if you don't believe me."

Toshi glanced hesitantly at her. "You're not joking?"

"Well, seeing as I don't really have a reason to be, no, I'm not joking."

Her friend sighed. "I guess I'll have to believe you for the time being then."

Yuke shot her a look. "Hey, give me some credit."

"Fine, fine," Toshi said, and gave her a pat on the shoulder. Anyway, I'm glad you could come with me today. I know you're probably not that excited about it, but still…it means a lot to me," she smiled.

Yuke smiled back. "Someone has to look out for you – make sure you guys don't do something crazy, right?"

"Because I'm sure you know how much trouble we're going to get into on a shopping trip."

"Definitely. You might attack someone over a pair of shoes. I'll need to stick around so I can call the cops in case you do."

"Thanks, Yuke, you're a real friend – someone I can always count on in times of need," Toshi stated sarcastically, and the girls continued on down the street.

"So did you hear about the Avatar coming to Republic City?" Yuke asked after a minute, recalling what she had heard on the radio the other day.

Toshi nodded. "My parents mentioned it when I got home from work yesterday. Actually, that was all they were talking about last night and this morning before we left," she explained in annoyance. "They're trying to decide whether or not they think the Avatar will be able to deal with the Equalists and the triad crimes taking place in the city. At the moment they're a little unsure of her right now, with her being so young and all. My dad's skeptical about a teenage girl being able to save a city – much less the world."

"The last Avatar –Avatar Aang – was only thirteen when he stopped the Fire Nation and saved the world, wasn't he? So then why does your dad think it's so difficult for another teenage Avatar to save the world? Besides, they all have to start out as kids anyway," Yuke pointed out. "In the meantime, the new Avatar should probably leave the triad business up the cops. The Equalists…" Yuke paused, thinking of Gen's offer for her. She hadn't given any thought to it yet, but she knew she would have to give them an answer eventually.

She had no solid opinion of the Equalists, so she couldn't say that she hated them or anything like that. To Yuke, they were just a group of people whom she knew very little about. Of course, if she joined them, she would definitely learn more about the organization. Yet that didn't necessarily mean her opinion of them would drastically change – if at all.

"The Equalists…? What about the Equalists?"

"What?" Yuke asked, having suddenly been pulled from her thoughts.

"You were starting to say something about the Equalists and then trailed off," Toshi told her.

"I didn't notice," Yuke replied in earnest, scratching her head. "Whatever I was going to say, I don't remember what it was."

"Whatever," Toshi shrugged, and looking away, Yuke nervously bit her lip.

The Equalists weren't some organization one could take lightly. She was going to have to give serious consideration to the offer before her.

* * *

Yuke hadn't been entirely sure what to expect when Toshi had told her they were going out shopping with her new friends. As a result, part of her was expecting the girls to be drama queens who would drag her and Toshi all around the city in search of places to shop. The other part was expecting the girls to pay little attention to her and Toshi and just wander around aimlessly like a lost tour group.

These being her two initial ideas, she was quite surprised to find that all three girls weren't really that bad. True, now and again they did gossip and seem somewhat selfish, but it wasn't something Yuke held against them. After all, everyone acted like that every now and then, she figured. There was no point criticizing them when she herself had done such things before. And while they did go shopping around the city as Toshi had said they would, the five of them spent more time sitting around and talking than anything else. It was different from what Yuke had expected, but not so much that she could say that she wasn't having a good time.

The day went by faster than Yuke realized, and before she knew it, it was time for them to head over to the Pro-bending Arena. Like her and Toshi, the other three had all been given free tickets by Tahno the night before, though their seats were on the opposite side of the arena.

* * *

Approaching the Pro-bending Arena, Yuke could feel her excitement growing as she looked upon the illuminated structure before them, the golden lights making the building look more like a floating castle suspended over the sea.

Passing through the large doors of the arena, they handed in their tickets in exchange for another, saying their goodbyes before Yuke and Toshi split up from the other three, proceeding farther into the arena towards their seats.

"Dang, these seats must be really good if we get our own private booths," Toshi commented as they passed by marked doors through which every now and then both girls caught glimpses of red and dark-cushioned chairs.

"I don't know," Yuke replied, trying to look further into the rooms they passed without drawing attention. "These look like they're really high class – like the kind reserved either for the family of the players or society's elite. No offense, but I don't think a guy we just met would have given us tickets for such good seats."

She stopped walking suddenly when she noticed Toshi was no longer beside her. "Toshi?" she frowned, turning around and looking behind her to find her friend standing in front of a door. "What is it?"

"This is our door?"

"What?"

"This is our door," Toshi repeated, pointing at the door beside her.

Yuke retraced her steps to stop beside her friend, glancing at the door number and then ticket numbers before doing so again. "I don't believe it," she whispered, half to herself and half to Toshi.

They looked at each other for a moment in silence, and reaching out, Toshi twisted the doorknob with a light click, pushing the door open and stepping into their room.

The door closed softly once both of them were inside, and Yuke briefly scanned the dim room, taking in the red curtains lining the balcony area and the two comfortable-looking chairs positioned right near the edge, each one accompanied by a small table.

There was a muffled sound coming from outside the room, and moving to the far end of the room, Yuke pulled the curtains' drawstrings, lifting them slowly for her and Toshi to see out.

She could hardly stop her sudden intake of breath, and from beside her felt Toshi take hold of the rim of her shirt, tugging it gently.

"Yuke…" Toshi breathed, but was unable to come up with any more words.

"Yeah, I see it," Yuke replied a moment later, hardly able to believe what she was seeing as well.

The view before her was, by far, one of the most spectacular things she had ever seen. At least a hundred feet below them was a large body of water, in the center of which a hexagonal platform sprang up to form the playing field, directly across from where she and Toshi were positioned. The walls of the arena were filled with rows and rows of seats, inhabited by thousands of pro-bending fans, and the domed ceiling was constructed entirely of glass, with a large spherical light hanging from the center.

"Amazing," Toshi smiled next to her. "This is incredible!"

Yuke nodded in agreement. "It's certainly going to be a lot different from listening to the games on the radio."

After a few more minutes of admiring the view, they both took their seats in their cushioned chairs, and the arena began to glow brighter as a multitude of lights surrounding the upper ceiling began switching on, the sound of fans cheering increasing almost immediately afterwards.

"Aw man, we should have gotten some snacks and drinks before we came in here," Toshi complained next to her, and Yuke shook her head, almost laughing with excitement and disbelief.

"It's probably best that we didn't – I think we'll be screaming and cheering too much to have time for anything else," she commented.

There was the sound of a bell ringing and the announcer's voice suddenly rang through the arena, welcoming everyone to the Pro-bending Arena for the night's official games.

The first team to enter the arena was introduced as the Capital City Catgators, and like everyone else, Yuke and Toshi began screaming as soon as the team captain was introduced and stepped out onto the field. Once all three of the Capital City Catgators had come out, the crowds turned their attention to the other end of the field, where the opposing team would be entering momentarily.

The announcer introduced the other team as the White Falls Wolfbats, and more screams echoed throughout the arena as the announcer shouted the team captain's name.

As soon as the captain's name was uttered, Yuke's jaw dropped, and she quickly turned to Toshi, only to find that the girl was looking back at her as well, her eyes wide in surprise.

"Wait a minute, Toshi. You don't think that that's...?" Yuke started.

On the field before them, Tahno walked into the light. Even from afar, his appearance was easily recognizable to Yuke, and she began shaking her head in disbelief. "Oh no, you've got to be kidding me."

She and Toshi watched as Tahno and his team paraded further onto the field, obviously enjoying themselves in the spotlight.

"Tahno…I should have known," Yuke mumbled to Toshi without looking at her. "I just never would have thought Tahno is the pro-bender Tahno," she said and did a face-palm. "Ugh, why didn't I see it before? It makes perfect sense." She turned back to look at Toshi, who had hearts popping out of her eyes, and let out a sigh.

The bell sounded, informing her that the match had started, and she returned her gaze to the benders, paying close attention to Tahno.

As the match progressed, Yuke soon found herself relaxing and enjoying herself once more, determined to have a good time regardless of Tahno being there. She had made a promise with Toshi after all… This was the first – and possibly only – time she was ever going to see pro-bending matches live in her life. Whether or not Tahno was there, she was going to have a good time.

Now, as Yuke watched Tahno play, she had to admit, he was definitely very skilled – brutal at times to his opponents, but skilled nonetheless. She was even embarrassed to admit that at some points in the match she found herself jealous of his skills on the field. She had the same reflexes, the same speed as him, but it was his bending that gave him the upper hand in a fight. _Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to train with him,_ she thought to herself. He would definitely pose a challenge to her, but his harsh style was something not too different from fights one might encounter with a bender in the real world.

* * *

The rest of the night Yuke and Toshi spent screaming their heads off like all of the other fans in the arena, booing referees and cheering the teams on as they proceeded into the final matches, one of the last being that of the Fire Ferrets, which Yuke made sure to scream extra loud for – just as she had told Bolin she would.

By the time all the matches had ended, Yuke and Toshi were shooting comments back and forth to each other about their favorite plays of the night. They were close to approaching the exit of the arena when Yuke suddenly stopped where she was, not paying much attention as fans shuffled past her and out the doors.

"Yuke? What is it?" Toshi asked, noting her friend's quick halt.

Yuke turned to look at her, and grabbing her friend's wrist with a smile, began pulling them out of the crowd exiting the arena. "You didn't really believe me earlier when I said I met Bolin, and I told you I'd take you with me to see him after the match," she recalled, slowly but surely making her way out of the mass of people. "Well, let's go see if I was telling the truth then, shall we?"

"Are you sure about this?" Toshi asked her as they began heading away from the exit and deeper once more into the arena. "I mean, if you really did meet Bolin as you say, are you sure that he wasn't just playing around?"

"Oh come on, Toshi, why would someone make up something like that?"

"I'm just saying that maybe-." Yuke's pace slowed abruptly, causing Toshi to almost knock the both of them over.

"Hey, Yuke, what's the hold up? I thought you were determined to prove you weren't lying to me?" she inquired, peering over Yuke's shoulder once she had regained her balance to see Tahno and his teammates coming towards them on the other side of the hall. "Hey, Tahno!" she called out from behind Yuke, waving enthusiastically towards the team captain as he broke off from his friends to approach them, a smirk plastered across his face.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the little bird and her pretty friend," he greeted them, hands in his pockets.

"I'm not a bird-," Yuke started before Toshi jumped forward, her hands clasped together as if she were praying.

"That was amazing, Tahno! We had no idea you were on the Wolfbats. I mean, we knew your name was Tahno and that you were a bender, but we never even thought you were _that_ Tahno. You guys were great out there, weren't they, Yuke?" she suddenly asked her friend as if for confirmation.

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. It was really cool," Yuke replied lamely, unsure why Toshi had suddenly pulled her into the conversation. Not that Tahno and the Wolfbats hadn't been impressive, but she didn't want to say anything to boost the young man's already inflated ego.

"Well, now that the pro-bending tournament will be starting, things should finally begin to get more interesting. It's always such a drag playing against a bunch of losers with no talent during the regular season," he commented with disdain, running a hand through his hair.

"Pro-bending tournament or not, you guys were awesome!" Toshi smiled with excitement. "It makes me wish I was a bender so I could play too."

Tahno shrugged. "Not all benders are suited to compete in pro-bending; only the best of us stand a chance and possess the skills to do so," he told them, and Yuke resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

_This guy is so full of himself. Honestly, I don't know how he's able to survive for so long without admiring himself in a mirror,_ Yuke thought.

"Well, we have to go now," Yuke told Tahno, sighing. "Places to go, people to see…" she said, taking Toshi's wrist once more in an effort to pull her away from the man.

"People more interesting than me?" Tahno asked her in a smooth voice.

Yuke shivered involuntarily, but said nothing. When she continued to remain silent after another moment, Tahno took a step back to let them pass.

"Alright then, see you guys around," he said, giving them a lazy wave and another smirk. Toshi happily waved back and Yuke smiled half-heartedly, desperately hoping that "around" wouldn't be any time soon.

* * *

A few minutes later the girls reached the locker room, and without hesitation Yuke knocked lightly on the door. When she heard no reply, she slowly opened the door and peered inside. The three people that were in the room ceased their conversing, and turned to look at Yuke and Toshi in the doorway.

Yuke recognized Bolin in the center of the three, and took a guess that the young man in matching uniform on his left was Mako, his older brother and the fire-bender of the Fire Ferrets.

The girl to his right however, she didn't recognize. She had darker skin with dark brown hair tied back into a high ponytail, her style of clothes suggesting that she was most likely someone from the Northern or Southern Water Tribe – if not a water-bender.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I'll just…ah, wait outside until you're done," Yuke said, looking embarrassed and suddenly feeling awkward under their gazes as if she had intruded upon a private conversation.

Before she could close the door however, Bolin came forward, the same smile on his face that Yuke remembered him having when she had first met him earlier. "Hey, Yuke, you decided to come! How're you?"

Before she could reply, on the other side of the room Mako gave an audible grunt of disapproval. "Another one of your fangirls, Bolin?"

Bolin turned his attention from Yuke to his brother. "Aw, come on bro, she's not like that!" He quickly turned back to Yuke, and put his hand next to his mouth. "Seriously, you're not like that, right?" he whispered.

She shook her head "no."

"See," Bolin explained, "she's not a crazy fangirl. I accidentally ran into her this morning when I was chasing after Pabu."

"And you invited her here because…?" Mako trailed off.

"I wanted to apologize; she could have been hurt."

"And the other one?"

"Other one?" Bolin asked, frowning and peering around Yuke to see Toshi. "Hey, sorry, didn't see you there!" he smiled apologetically at Toshi. "Who're you?"

"This is my friend, Toshi," Yuke indicated, jerking her head in Toshi's direction as the girl came out from behind her. "She was skeptical about me actually meeting you," she explained. "Although I doubt she's so skeptical now," Yuke added on, raising her eyebrows and looking at Toshi, whose only response was a wide grin back.

"Hi there," Bolin greeted Toshi, "nice to meet you." He glanced back and forth between her and Yuke, and, as if suddenly realizing that he wasn't alone with them, quickly retreated back to his brother's and the unknown girl's side. "Hey you two, come on over here; I want you to meet my older brother, Mako – but you probably already know him from tonight's match or else from the radio and papers," he grinned from ear to ear, and jerked his thumb towards the serious, black-haired young man next to him as Toshi and Yuke approached the three.

Mako gave each of them a nod of greeting, but remained silent and unmoving otherwise.

"And then, to my far right, we have Korra." Bolin leaned forward towards Toshi and Yuke then, and pointed his finger towards the girl to his right. "New Avatar!" he whispered to them, although not very quietly.

Both girls' eyes widened in shock as the dark-skinned girl stepped forward with a smile. "Hey guys, what's up?"


End file.
